Harry Dunn crash: Parents ‘considering civil action’ against US suspect
Harry Dunn’s father says the family has “heard nothing” since meeting Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab. …
Image copyright Family Photo The parents of a teenage motorcyclist killed in a crash have said they are considering civil action against a US diplomat’s wife suspected of driving the other vehicle.
Harry Dunn, 19, died in a crash with a Volvo in Northamptonshire on 27 August.
Suspect Anne Sacoolas later left the UK despite telling police she had no such plans.
Mr Dunn’s father Tim said the family had “heard nothing” since meeting Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab.
He said they were also “still waiting” for information from the US government following President Donald Trump’s comments.
On Wednesday, the president said his administration would speak to Mrs Sacoolas “very shortly and see if we can do something where they meet”.
But a briefing note held by Mr Trump at the press conference said Mrs Sacoolas would not be returning to the UK after being granted diplomatic immunity.
Mr Dunn’s mother Charlotte Charles said the US’s apparent approach was “beyond any realm of human thinking”.
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The family is still planning to go to the US.
Tim Dunn said: “We have to go to America and speak to the American people. We can’t let this be swept under the carpet.”
He said they had taken legal advice on civil action and it was “an avenue we are looking at”.
“We are out of our depth really, I feel like I’m on autopilot,” he added.
After speaking to Mr Raab on Wednesday, as well as their local MP and Business Secretary Andrea Leadsom, Mr Dunn said the family felt “we’ve exhausted our governments efforts”.
The teenager’s parents described the meeting with Mr Raab as a “publicity stunt”.
Afterwards Mr Raab said the justice process was “not being allowed to properly run its course”.
Mr Dunn has welcomed the idea of speaking with Mrs Sacoolas.
“We want answers from her about what happened, there are things the police cannot answer,” he said.
Police have said CCTV of the crash in which the teenager died shows a Volvo travelling on the wrong side of the road.
Speaking at the press briefing on Wednesday – after his conversation with Prime Minister Boris Johnson – Mr Trump said: “The woman was driving on the wrong side of the road, and that can happen.
“You know, those are the opposite roads, that happens. I won’t say it ever happened to me, but it did.
“So a young man was killed, the person that was driving the automobile has diplomatic immunity, we’re going to speak to her very shortly and see if we can do something where they meet.”
What is diplomatic immunity?
About 23,000 individuals in the UK have diplomatic immunity, a status reserved for foreign diplomats and their families, as long as they don’t have British citizenship.
It means that, in theory, they cannot face court proceedings for any crime or civil case.
However, where crimes are committed, the Foreign Office can ask a foreign government to waive immunity.
Diplomatic immunity is by no means restricted to those named on the Diplomatic List. Drivers, cooks and other support staff who have been accredited to Britain (“the receiving state”) have the same diplomatic status and immunity.
Speaking in Northampton on Thursday, Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn said Mr Trump’s comments were “crass and insensitive”.
He also said the use of diplomatic immunity in the case was “completely unacceptable”, and that more pressure should be put the US to return Mrs Sacoolas to the UK.
The crash in which Mr Dunn died happened close to RAF Croughton, a US Air Force communications station, where Mrs Sacoolas’s husband Jonathan had been working.
Number 10 said the prime minister had urged Mr Trump to reconsider the decision to allow Mrs Sacoolas immunity in order that “the individual involved can return to the UK, co-operate with police and allow Harry’s family to receive justice”.
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